The present invention relates to disc drives. In particular, the present invention relations to a disc slip apparatus for a disc stack of a disc drive.
A disc stack includes a plurality of discs clamped to a hub of a spindle motor. Discs are clamped to the hub with sufficient clamping force to limit slip or movement of the discs during operation and handling of the disc drive. Disc clamps are designed to provide sufficient clamping force to limit disc slip for normal operating loads and shock.
Measurement of disc slip force is useful for quality control on an assembly line as well as design analysis. Prior apparatus for simulating loads and measuring disc slip force were not well suited for testing a large sample lot for quality control and xe2x80x9cpass-failxe2x80x9d analysis relative to product specifications or disc slip performance standards. Nor were prior test apparatus particularly adaptable for varied testing parameters for design performance evaluation nor establishing standards for clamp force and slip force. The present invention addresses these and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
The present invention relates to a disc slip tester for measuring and analyzing disc slip. The tester includes a load actuator and load sensor for supplying and measuring test load. A processor is coupled to the load sensor and is programmed to determine disc slip. Disc slip data is outputted for quality control and performance analysis. The disc slip tester includes a user interface for controlling operating parameters for individual test control for design and performance analysis.